Thursday, May 30, 2019

Pattern Sale!

Everyone loves a sale, right?! Well, we are having one!




We are having a wonderful time teaching our Block of the Month quilt, In the Garden, at Primitive Homespuns Wool & Needleworks. We are about halfway through the second round, and these ladies are inspiring us with their choices and skills! Each month, we share our progress, and I (Teri) am amazed by their beautiful work. It is fun to watch them get ideas from each other, and I may be learning as much from some of them as they are from me. (And Kara, who got to come to the shop for our March session when she was home for the Academy of Appliqué.) 

In the Garden

We thought you might enjoy a few photos of our progress. Perhaps you, too, will be inspired.

Stacy, Beth, and Janie show off their Cardinals and Holly blocks.

We all loved Beth's wool choices for her second Rose block.

Working on our Hydrangea blocks—one side of the room...

...and the other!

Cutting a pile of petals


Stitching the petals with beads

Stacy added more dimension to both her rose and her hydrangea.


My favorite part is the enormous encouragement as we study each other's blocks, taking pictures for inspiration and noting the different approaches to the blocks.

A table full of fabulous work!!

This was Lisa's first class, and she had her block finished and sent us a picture within a couple of days. It doesn't look like beginner work to me!

SOOOO . . . about that sale. 

Kara and I both have birthdays in June, so we decided to celebrate by offering you a gift! All of our patterns can be purchased for a 15% discount for the entire month of June, beginning today. Just type in the coupon code JUNE2019 when you check out, and your items will be discounted.


So hop on over to our shop at needleseyestories.com and stock up on some summer stitching projects!

Note: Act now if you want hard copies, because in the month of July, I will be traveling across the country, so only digital copies will be available. Plan ahead—and get a discount!

Happy stitching!




Friday, May 24, 2019

A Mysterious Quilt!

If you have been reading our blog for a while, you will know that Teri and I (Kara) have a obsession, fondness for antique quilts. We have assembled quite a collection between the two of us and we love sharing it in our lecture, The Stories in Our Quilts. Recently, we have picked up a few quilt gems that we will share with you over the coming months. 


When I look at potential quilts to add to my collection, I usually go for the unique ones that could have an interesting story or background. The quilt I just bought was listed as a "Patchwork Colliers Quilt". That was all the information available other than the pictures and I had never seen anything like it before. The front was made of what appears to be painted or colored blocks, outlined in black thread, and the back was very obviously made out of  feedsacks.

The patchwork Colliers quilt. Notice the interesting edging on only 3 sides. 

The back made with feed sacks. Washburn Crosby became General Mills in 1928
and wheat screenings were often used as poultry feed.

Colliers was a national, weekly, magazine that had quite a following and was known for it's artistic covers, however, I couldn't find any covers to match the illustrations of the quilt. Google provided very little information with the exception of one other quilt that was similar and can be seen here. It is definitely a little more refined but seems to made in a like fashion. Vintage and antique Facebook groups were unable to provide any hints as to where someone could have found prints like this and then colored and stitched them. Was it an enterprising artist that copied the covers onto fabric? My research has been by no means exhaustive, but I am hoping this blog post might help.

The time frame from the images seems to be around the 20's or 30's and the subjects are varied—geishas, pilgrims, transportation and daily life just to name a few. The work seems a bit primitive but it has such a charm to it, that I couldn't pass it up in spite of not knowing much about it. 

A nursery rhyme.

This lovely geisha appears twice in the quilt.

These singers also appear twice.

One of the transportation blocks.

A zeppelin!

Family life scene.

A kitty cuddler.

A German Shepherd maybe?

Some of the more interesting (odd) ones.

Where's Sunbonnet Sue?

This one is open to interpretation.

These pilgrims look skeptical.

A blacksmith relaxing.

As I mentioned before the coloring and embroidery are a bit primitive but the artist (or maybe artists), was very detailed with their coloring.




This quilt is quite a mystery and I am sure that it was a treasure for someone—they certainly must have spent a lot of time making it. Now it will be treasured and researched by me and hopefully I will be able to find out more information about the subject matter, the techniques, and maybe even the maker. Have you ever see a quilt or technique like this? If so, any help in my research would be most welcome! Maybe some of the mystery behind it will be solved with your help, but for now I am grateful that this gem has found it's home in my collection.


Thursday, May 16, 2019

Needleworld 2019

Nadelwelt or Needleworld is held every year in Karlsruhe, Germany It is a wonderful show that showcases all forms of needle work and textile art. They also hold a variety of classes for every type of textile art—hand-piecing, machine quilting, fabric dyeing, and the list goes on. Last year I (Kara) took a hand-piecing class from Emer Fahy of Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed learning a new skill. This year, I wasn't able to get into the fabric-dyeing class I wanted, so I just went with a friend for the day. 

While the show is not very large, there are some lovely exhibits from all over Europe. Some are individual exhibitors, and others are year-long challenges. Hopefully, you will enjoy a few of my favorite sights from the show!

These beautiful coats were the first exhibit.



The next exhibit showcased quilts made for a challenge using Afghani embroidered patches. You can  read more about the project here.

Metamorphose, Coral Reef
Marie-Christine Hourdebaight, France

Hope Springs Out of Darkness
Monique Riganti, France

Love Your Planet
Delores Alarcon, France

You can purchase different embroideries.
What would you create?

The next exhibit highlighted a challenge to create a block every day for 30 days or in some cases even a 100 days!

Horizonte
Andrea Esser

Eulenblicke
Dr. Monika Kirk

Detail: Eulenblicke

Kräuter, Blüten, und Blatter
Uschi Zywietz-Rogge

30 Tagge, 30 Erinnerungen
Susanne Fuß

This next exhibit was created by Kasia Hanack and was one of my favorites!

Libelle
Detail: Libelle



Käfer

There was a wonderful exhibit that highlighted the embroidery heritage of the Alsatian region.









And the last of my favorite exhibits was by Elena Lorenz. Her embroideries were so tiny and beautiful!










For scale!

There were more exhibits but these were my favorites. Hopefully you enjoyed a little glimpse into a this lovely European needlework show. In addition to the great show, there was a giant hall full of vendors. I may have bought just a few items...😀